News and views about the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and other legislation, schemes and policies impacting the Right to Education of India's Children.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Budget schools offer quality education, get no government support

NEW DELHI: Budget schools have been having an especially rough time of
it under the Right To Education Act 2009. This year, many Delhi ones
faced the threat of closure due to the land-norms for recognition, set
by the Delhi Development Authority, as only recognized schools can
operate under RTE. Nearly 150 representatives from budget schools,
educators, researchers and investors gathered for the second School
Leadership Summit of the National Independent School Alliance (NISA).
They discussed school leadership, education outcomes, shrinking space
for them after the RTE Act and staying afloat. And from this year, NISA
is a registered society.

An initiative of
the Delhi-based Centre for Civil Society (CCS), NISA links 7,000
"low-fee and budget private schools" across 20 states. Leaders of budget
schools argued that the RTE Act conflates quality education with
quality infrastructure. "In the RTE Act, quality is represented as the
area the school should cover, teacher's salary and pupil-teacher ratio.
The criteria are laid differently," said Amitav Virmani of Absolute
Return for Kids (UK) and trustee of two family-run budget schools in
Delhi.

Many among the speakers and
audience felt the schools in this category do not get enough government
support and that much of the 'quality' is delivered-as one audience
member observed-"at the cost of teachers."

R C Jain, president of NISA and Delhi State Public Schools Management
Association, argued that making a BEd degree a compulsory requirement
while hiring teachers is forcing schools to hire teachers who may be
qualified but not competent.

Geeta Gandhi
Kingdon, professor of education economics and international development
at London University pointed out that a large number of government
schools do not meet the standards set by the RTE Act and that budget
unaided schools deliver better quality education though its teachers, in
most cases, earn a fraction of what a government school teacher makes.

The meeting also included a session on financing. Neeraj Sharma who
heads the Indian School Finance Company, which extends small loans-a
maximum of Rs 50 lakh-to "affordable" schools which charge Rs.1,500 or
less per month as fee, says they are "replacing money-lenders.